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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Alberta Labor Relations Board ruled today against the NHL Players' Association's bid to lift the NHL owners' lockout in the province.

The NHLPA had hoped to force the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames to open their facilities to players for training camp and practices. The teams would have also had to pay their players.

The players had argued that Alberta Labor laws say that a mediator must work with both sides for 14 days before a lockout can be implemented. The ALRB ruled that declaring the lockout illegal would not have helped the sides negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

"There is no dispute the lockout declared by the NHL is legal and valid pursuant to the NLRA," the ruling from the Alberta Labor Relations Board read. "The parties are struggling to find a resolve to this and, it is our expectation this is nothing more than an unhelpful distraction from their efforts."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly had repeated stated that the NHLPA's filing in Alberta and a similar one in the Province of Quebec -- a hearing is scheduled for Oct 15 -- were unnecessary distractions that wasted time the sides could be using to negotiate a new CBA.

"We are pleased with the Alberta Labor Board's ruling today that the lockout of players is effective on a league-wide basis, including in Alberta, and we are extremely appreciative of the decisive manner in which the matter was handled," Daly said in a statement. "We are hopeful that this ruling will enable both the league and the NHL Players' Association to focus all of our efforts and energies on negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in order to get our game and our players back on the ice."

The NHLPA also issued a statement in response to the ALRB's ruling.

“The players are obviously disappointed with today’s decision," it said. "Unfortunately, the Alberta Labour Relations Board decided not to exercise its discretion to determine whether the owners’ lockout violates Alberta law. We will consider our further options with regard to this case.

"In the meantime, the players want to play, the fans want to watch the game, and the many workers and business owners who are dependent on NHL hockey for their livelihood want the season to start. We remain committed to reaching a fair agreement at the earliest possible time and hope that the NHL begins to show a willingness to do so.”

The ALRB's ruling came while representatives from the NHL and the NHLPA met this afternoon at the league's Manhattan office to discuss fringe issues. Daly and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met this morning with NHLPA executive director Don Fehr and the union's special counsel, Steve Fehr, for about 50 minutes, but the sides apparently were unable to find a way to break through on the core ecomonic issues.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.